(A Book Adventure through the Mysteries of Chinese Food) By Jennifer 8. Lee

As American as Apple Pie

A live-action blog to go with the book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is about how Chinese food is all-American. There are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. The book is for anyone who has ever wondered who is General Tso and why are we eating his chicken; why Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas; and who really invented the fortune cookie. Jennifer 8. Lee solves enduring mysteries of Chinese cuisine through a mix of in-depth research and entertaining personal anecdotes.

So I was at R&G Lounge in San Francisco Chinatown for a low-key alumni event when these people from another table actually recognized me because they had read my book. They weren’t even Chinese American or my age.

It was a father and teenage son pair, genetically Indian, from Brownsville, Texas.
(That’s like essentially Mexico). We had a nice chat about the book, including Mexican Chinese food (which I had to cut from the book).

I was impressed how much they remembered (both had read it). It’s the first time that someone who read the book actually recognized me. In Boston, a waitress recognized me from Colbert, which is also neat but not the same as someone who read the book. Authors, who are like usually just names, don’t generally have their faces associated with them.

Then I was at a housewarming party where two people came up to me and said they had just chosen The Fortune Cookie Chronicles for their book club. I told them to email me, I answer any questions. I could even join in on discussing via conference call.